Big surprise! We went to Disney World. Again! 😉 This is the last week of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and the last remnant of the boys’ sixth birthday celebration!

First order of business: Disney Hollywood Studios, where we found the day had a decidedly Star Wars focus. Why are the boys smiling? They just finished the Star Tours ride and are sitting atop a “speeder bike”.

Anyway, the highlight of the day was an epic battle with Darth Maul.

Adam was ecstatic, and grinning from ear-to-ear the entire time!

As for Alex, he was worried, yet determined…

and in the end, his courage shines through…

Adam, on the other hand, was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force…

Oh, and then we went to the Christmas Party, which was a lot of waiting and crowding, lights and fireworks,

Sitting on the curb and waving…

and Santa!

Seriously, though, it was a great night, and I didn’t have to ride on “It’s a Small World”!

Once inside, we headed down Main Street USA and hooked a right to Tomorrowland where I accompanied Adam for his first ride on Space Mountain! Meanwhile, Alex had an important meeting to attend to with Buzz Lightyear, so Mom assisted him with this agenda item…

Next, we waited in a long, long line for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Alex didn’t seem to mind, though…

Our goal was to hot all the roller coasters on this trip. So, we made our way to Adventureland and rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railrode, and topped off the day with a ride down Splash Mountain…

It was a very, very BUSY and FUN day. Using Disney’s FastPass we were able to enjoy so many rides. Back at the hotel, I reminisced about my trips to Disney as a young boy. Tomorrowland looked a lot cleaner in the 70s; now it seems so cluttered. Instead of a smooth futuristic feel, it looks more cartoonish, like something out of the movie, Robots. I wonder what Alex and Adam will remember of these days 40-years from now?

So, I’m thinking that the park was gonna be EXTREMELY crowded, but it turned out to be no so bad! The ride over on the ferry was pleasant, although Alex wasn’t too fond of the crossing at first. The sun was just going down and painted the sky…

Exiting the ferry, we rented a stroller-cart-rickshaw and started-up main street to secure our place on the street for the parade. Did I say the crowd wasn’t too bad??

We found the perfect location for the parade: Right at the corner of the turn they make onto mainstreet! Since we had about 1-1/2 hours before the parade started, I held our position while Cindy took the boys on a ride or two. Unfortunately, Cindy adn the boys missed the castle lighting. I saw it of course, as I had been standing with our stroller-rickshaw thing and waving people off our position…

After what seemed like FOREVER and almost coming to blows with a couple of would-be usurpers, the parade began. And just as we thought, we had the best seat in the house!

Today was the last day of our Spring Break Orlando Experience. We started-off bright and early through the gate to catch the monorail…

A precipitous drop in temperature made it pretty darn chilly as we entered Main Street USA. I was the only one that thought to bring a jacket, which means the first order of business is to find a store and buy something warm for the remainder of the crew!

One of the highlights of the trip was the opportunity for the boys to join Jack Sparrow’s crew by joining the Pirates Guild! So, we spend about an hour in the stuffy room, as the boys were transformed into pirates…

They looked great! Alex did very well, and was pretty excited when he climbed off the make-up chair to claim his pirate tools, which consisted of a sash and a sword. Adam was VERY upset that he couldn’t have one of the REAL swords that were mounted on the wall.

Adam was so upset, in fact, that he refused to pose for his pirate portrait. Not Davy Badbones, though! He was all about it!

One good thing about the LONG lines for some of the rides is the opportunity to snap a photo or two of the family…

Of course, the long lines and all the walking takes its toll on little legs…

The “old Standby”…no one comes to Disney to ride the Tea Cups, but it seems we always do! Well, not me.

Right across from the Tea Cups is the Grand Prix Raceway! The boys loved this ride. I rode with Alex and he had a blast driving around the track!

Although we kept getting rear-ended by some lady driver! Hello, Kameran!

Well, it was a whirlwind three days, but we had a lot of fun…and made some great memories!

Cindy and the boys, along with Auntie GiGi and Big Sisters Jessica and Kameran, took a road trip to Disney World. They spent three days at the Caribbean Beach Resort and visited the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center, and Animal Kingdom…

You can’t visit Disney without spinning your head off on the Tea Cup ride…

Jess takes Adam into the world of Buzz Lightyear; Mama and Alex are right behind…

Locked-up for a photo op! Alex thinks this resembles too closely a crib, and he’s not at all ready to take a nap…

Jess and Kameran meet Daisy Duck…

Adam pulls Auntie Gigi into Tomorrowland…

A breather, and overdue diaper-changes…

The boys are crusin’ in style, Adam has the top down, checking-out the sights, while Alex decides what he’s going to do next…